The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Mozambique insurgency fuels fears of humanitarian crisis and regional insecurity
Escalating conflict linked to an insurgency in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee and will likely prolong crisis levels of food insecurity there, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
More than 310,000 people have sought shelter in southern and western districts of the gas-rich province, while many thousands have fled into the neighbouring provinces of Nampula and Niassa, WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri told journalists in Geneva.
“The number of displaced people has tripled over the last few months amid growing insecurity,” he said. “Also, many of those that we have been assisting, either in Cabo Delgado, in Nampula, in Niassa, they have nothing but WFP food assistance.”
The situation is linked to an armed insurgency that began in 2017, WFP said, amid reports that Islamic extremists continue to hold key areas in the gas-rich northern region, after attacking a number of towns in recent months.
These have caused loss of life and severely damaged infrastructure that was already severely affected by cyclone Kenneth in 2019, the UN agency noted.
Highlighting concerns that regional security risks being compromised by the insurgency, Mr. Phiri added that there were ongoing clashes and that “these armed groups are linked definitely to some terrorist organizations”.
Thousands more Mozambicans “have also fled as refugees into (Tanzania’s) neighbouring Tabora district and others…deepening concerns among the international community about the regionalisation of this conflict”, he continued.
Apart from alarming levels of food insecurity in Cabo Delgado – where more than one in two children under five is chronically malnourished, above the 43 per cent national average – there are additional concerns about coronavirus transmission.
“Cabo Delgado….currently is recording the second highest number of COVID cases in Mozambique. And population displacements have the potential to accelerate the spread of the virus,” said Mr. Phiri.
Despite “major operational challenges”, WFP is working to reach displaced people in Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa, including those “stranded” in highly insecure areas facing “crisis” levels of food insecurity.
Today, WFP provides food assistance to nearly 200,000 people in the province.
The UN agency is stepping up aid to reach more than 300,000 people, but it has warned that without continued funding, assistance may have to be cut.
“If the situation does not improve beyond December, WFP will be forced to even suspend assistance and that is a situation we do not want to go,” Mr. Phiri said. “It costs us $4.7 million a month, we need $142 million between now and February, those are our needs.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a beautiful day.
- Wide shot, podium with speakers in a near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “The number of displaced people has tripled over the last few months amid growing insecurity. Also, many of those that we have been assisting, either in Cabo Delgado, in Nampula, in Niassa, they have nothing but WFP food assistance.”
- Medium shot, cameraman filming, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “There is fighting and these armed groups are linked definitely to some terrorists organizations, I’m not too sure which ones exactly, but what I can tell you right now is that it is indeed an insurgency in northern Cabo Delgado.”
- Medium shot, journalist sitting in front of laptop, touching her face mask, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “Thousands of Mozambicans have also fled as refugees into neighbouring Tabora district and others, and this is deepening concerns among the international community about the regionalisation of this conflict”.
- Medium shot, journalist sitting in front of laptop, using listening device, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “Cabo Delgado, as some of you may know, currently is recording the second highest number of COVID cases in Mozambique. And population displacements have the potential to accelerate the spread of the virus.”
- Medium shot, journalist listening, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “If the situation does not improve beyond December, WFP will be forced to even suspend assistance and that is a situation we do not want to go.”
- Medium shot, journalist listening while touching his face mask, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP (World Food Programme): “It costs us $4.7 million a month, we need $142 million between now and February, those are our needs.”
- Wide shot, showing an almost empty room, with some journalists and UN staff members in the audience, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Medium-wide shot, showing podium with WFP speaker, with UN logo behind, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Close-up, hands typing on laptop, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
The Iranian Government has continued to ramp up efforts to restrict the rights of civilians including young children as part of a concerted effort to crush dissent, investigators mandated by the Human Rights Council insisted on Friday.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Senior human rights investigators reporting to the Human Rights Council alleged on Thursday that sexual and gender-based violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinian men, women and children have been increasingly used “as a method of war” following the 7 October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Bangladesh: Humanitarians describe ‘extreme desperation’ as aid cuts deepen Rohingya children’s suffering
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee settlements, child malnutrition has surged and cuts in aid funding risk creating a humanitarian “catastrophe”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday gave an update on the situation in Syria’s coastal region as reports continue to emerge of the distressing scale of violence there since 6 March.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
The aid response in Burundi to the crisis in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is literally buckling”, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday, as it relayed dramatic testimonies from people forced to flee the unchecked advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Close to 80,000 have fled DR Congo amid fighting, sexual violence: UNHCR
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have pushed tens of thousands to flee across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in more than 30 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the human rights situation in Myanmar was among the worst in the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Haiti: Massive surge in child armed group recruitment – UNICEF
The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today called on UN member states to act with urgency towards a ceasefire and to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are at an inflection point in the crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Investigators tasked by the UN Human Rights Council to track alleged grave abuses of power by top Nicaraguan officials on Wednesday insisted that the International Court of Justice should prosecute what they called the systematic and systemic repression of the country’s people.